A number of beverage dispenser designs are well known in the art. These include carbonated beverage dispensers, non-carbonated beverage dispensers, beverage brewing systems, and liquor distribution systems. Many beverage dispenser designs have separate nozzles to pour (dispense) different beverages. Some beverage dispensers are capable of dispensing a variety of beverages out of a single nozzle.
One common type of a beverage dispenser with a single nozzle is a beverage gun (commonly referred to as a bar gun). A beverage gun typically includes a hand-held beverage dispensing head with a number of buttons, each corresponding to a different beverage. One example of a beverage gun is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,692 to Valiyee et al, assigned to the assignee of the instant application, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Another common type of beverage dispenser is a beverage tower. A beverage tower is typically set on a countertop or table top. Rather than being handheld and moved to the beverage cup, as is the case with the beverage gun, the beverage tower is maintained in a generally stationary position, and the beverage cup is held or set down underneath the tower's nozzle. An example of a beverage tower is shown in the parent application Ser. No. 12/611,788, and shown in FIG. 1. Some beverage towers have one nozzle at the dispense point, as shown in FIG. 1, and some others have multiple nozzles, one for each type of beverage.
Both of these types of dispensers are generally fed by a number of beverage tubes, which in turn are connected to remotely located containers of soda water, non-carbonated water, concentrated soft drink syrups, and the like. Depending on the user-selected beverage, one or more beverage components are dispensed out of the nozzle (or one of the nozzles) simultaneously. For example, soda water and a concentrated soft drink syrup are dispensed simultaneously to serve a soft drink.
The containers of beverage components are generally located at least somewhat remotely from the beverage dispenser, so the beverage tubes are sometimes quite long, and thus have a large amount of beverage components stored within them when not in use. In addition, the beverage tubes are usually controlled by flow control valves and shutoff valves located some distance upstream of the nozzle, so some of the beverage components that remain within the tubes are located downstream of the valves. This can lead to beverage components dripping from the nozzle when the beverage dispenser is not in use, which is wasteful and messy.
This is of particular concern for beverage towers, which are often used in convenience stores and the like, and operated directly by customers rather than staff members, but it is of some concern for all beverage dispensing systems.